Tidal Flame
by SaraValdezJackson
Summary: Lilly Jackson never knew her real parents or family. But when she's suddenly saved from a real life monster by a certain fire-using son of Hephaestus, she'll find that there's a lot of things she didn't know. Now she will have to face dangerous quests, a new great prophecy, being a demigod, an overprotective older brother, and falling in love with none other than Leo Valdez. LeoXOC


**Chapter 1: The New Kid Kills My Vampire Math Teacher**

 ** _Lilly POV_**

I walked up the steps to my school, Rathaway High, my best friend Cammie walking beside me.

Let me introduce myself. My name's Lillian Jackson, and I'm an orphan. I never knew my parents, and I've lived in a foster home all my life. I was dropped off at the orphanage when I was a baby; my only two possessions a tag with my name and a gleaming silver necklace with a seashell charm. I have long dirty blonde hair and bright sea green eyes, and I'm cursefully short, only about 5'3 in height. I have extreme ADHD and dyslexia, and I'm 15 years old.

"This is some murky weather..." I muttered, staring up at the extremely overcast sky. The air seemed tense, as if a huge storm was coming and nature was preparing itself for the downpour. I loved rain, but I had always hated large storms, especially ones with lightning and thunder.

"Yeah." Cammie glanced up as well, "Huh, that's weird. The storm's right above us, but seems to be clear farther away."

"That is odd..." I trailed off, shaking my head dismissively to clear off the ominous feeling building in my chest as we entered priso- sorry, _highschool_.

The halls were fairy crowded, with people chatting and opening lockers to look for the books they need for their classes. Cammie and I navigated through the herds of people, making our way to our lockers while talking animatedly about Supernatural, which was our favorite show. Finally, I grabbed my stuff and waved a quick goodbye to her before hurrying off to my first hour, math.

Now, whoever said, 'Hey, let's take a problem like 2a + 34b - 13c = 67d and have kids solve it in their first class of the day' is a complete idiot, but sadly, math is a required class and I happened to draw the short straw when it came to hour placement.

I quickly sat down in my seat at the back of the room, waiting for the bell to ring. The teacher of the class, Ms. Paddock, was a thin, black haired woman with icy pale blue eyes and a permanent scowl on her face. Her unpainted nails were long and sharp, like claws, and she walked with a almost unnoticeable limp.

Finally, the loud obnoxious electronic buzz rang through the air, signaling the beginning of the hour.

"Alright-" Ms. Paddock's words were interrupted by an unfamiliar boy rushing into the room, cutting off whatever she was about to say.

"Sorry I'm late." the boy's chocolate brown eyes sparkled with mischief, contradicting his not-so-sincere apology. He looked to be latino, with dark curly hair and a wide grin, and I had to admit he was handsome.

Ms. Paddock's scowl seemed to deepen, if that was even possible, at the sight of the new kid. It was almost as if his very presence was bothering her greatly. Strange.

"Fine." her voice was like glass, sharp and clean-cut, "Go take the empty seat next to Lilliana."

I flinched slightly at the use of my full name as he walked over and sat down beside me.

"Hey, I'm Leo." he greeted.

"I'm Lilly." he nodded in confirmation at my words, probably sensing my dislike of my full name.

After that, we settled into a semi-comfortable silence as the lesson started. I began to draw in my notebook, losing track of time as I focused on creating my picture.

Suddenly, there was a light tap on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Leo giving me a mischievous grin. I tilted my head quizzically, and he gestured for me to wait before pressing a button on a little remote control that he pulled from the pocket of his army jacket.

The small television in the room suddenly turned on, beginning to play some Spanish soap opera show at full volume, causing the class to erupt into confusion at the sudden noise and laughter at the look on Ms. Paddock's face.

I turned around to face Leo, a shocked look to my face. He held up a finger to his lips, shooting me a wink and causing my cheeks to tinge pink. I whipped around to face the other direction in an attempt to hide my blush and watched as Ms. Paddock attempted to shut off the television without avail, it seemed as if machine had a life of its own.

About thirty minutes and seven very confused tech consultants later, they finally managed to shut off the television.

Ms. Paddock looked relieved, but as soon as she opened her mouth to speak, the bell rang, signaling that the hour was over. Everyone got up out of their seats to leave and filed out of the room, probably to go and tell other students about what had just happened. Leo and I were the last ones to the door, myself right on his heels as he went into the hallway, before I could leave, Ms. Paddock cleared her throat loudly, signaling for me to turn around.

"Miss Jackson, please stay a moment." I saw Leo's face pale at my last name, his mouth falling open, I shot him a quizzical look before turning back to Ms. Paddock as she continued, "And shut the door behind you."

I walked back into the classroom and shut the door behind me, deciding that it would be best not to hesitate due to Ms. Paddocks expression. Her features were almost... hungry. A feeling of dread washed over me, like something was about to go terribly wrong. I heard someone begin to pound on the door behind me, but I didn't register it as Ms. Paddock licked her lips with her forked tongue. Wait, _what_?!

"I've waited so long for this demigod." before I could even process her strange words, she began to transform, her body seeming to bubble as it changed form. Ms. Paddock's black hair turned into reaching tongues of flame, her now red eyes seeming to pierce my own as her fingernails elongated into sharp talons. Fangs appeared in her bared teeth, and one of her legs was now metal, while her other leg changed into that of a thick furred hooved animal, which would've been funny if not for the overwhelming terror flooding my veins.

I let out a scream as she lunged at me, and I barely managed to dodge her strike by diving to the side instinctively.

Suddenly, the door was launched off it's hinges, the wooden frame on fire as it barreled into Ms. Paddock, igniting the desk.

I looked through the haze of smoke to see Leo standing in the doorway, one of his fists smoking.

"Leo!" I screamed staring as the flames slowly spread throughout the room, creating a line of fire between Leo and I.

He whirled in my direction, and ran over to me... _through the flames_.

"Wha... how..." I was barely keeping a panic attack at bay as everything hit me at once.

"No time for questions." he grabbed my hand and gently but firmly pulled me to my feet, "We have to go.:

"Alright, now, here's what we're going to do." he continued, motioning towards the wall of fire separating us from the exit. I could faintly heard the shrill siren of the fire alarm outside of the room.

"We're going to walk through the fire." he stated, and I looked at him with wide shocked eyes.

"Uh, what?!" I shouted, "You may be able to do... whatever you did, but I surely can't!"

"Do you trust me?" he looked at me, and I stared into his eyes for a second before nodding hesitantly. I know I had only just met the guy, but I felt oddly safe with Leo.

"Good." he gave me a grin, grabbing my hand tightly in his own, "Let's go, and don't let go of my hand."

With that, he led me towards the towering fire, and I squeezed my eyes shut, allowing him to guide me.

After a few moments, I realized I wasn't burning and opened my eyes only to see the orange and red flames dance around me as Leo pulled me forward, seeming to be concentration hard on something. Finally, we walked through the smoky building and out of the front doors of the school, but oddly enough, no one seemed to notice us. Leo tugged me towards the woods and once we were out of sight I finally managed to break out of my stupor, stopping in my tracks.

"We just walked through fire." I stated, my voice quiet as Leo looked down at me with a questioning look in his gorgeous eyes.

"Yeah." his voice was calming, and he was probably expecting me to freak out or something.

"That was awesome!" I exclaimed, and he looked shocked, "I mean, it was really terrifying, but we just _walked through fire_."

He let out a laugh, and we resumed walking through the woods, him leading me to whatever we were going towards.

"How did you do that by the way?" I inquired, gazing at him as we walked, "The fire thing."

"Well," he took a breath, "Do you know about Greek mythology?"

He then proceeded to explain about the Greek Gods and how they were real, and had children with mortals to make demigods.

"So, I'm a demigod?" I asked, the wheels in my head spinning furiously, "And that vampire lady-"

"Empousa." Leo corrected.

"Empousa." I reiterated, "was coming after me because of my godly parent?"

"Pretty much." Leo confirmed, sounding impressed that I was handling this so well, "I'm a son of Hephaestus."

"Hence the fire thing." I nodded along, "But wait how do we know who my godly parent is?"

"I'm not sure." he seemed to be hiding something, like he knew more than he was telling me, but I ignored that fact for now, "Ah, here we are."

We walked into a clearing where a large metallic bronze dragon laid, and I stared at it in awe.

"Hey Festus," Leo greeted it, and it lifted it's giant head, making some creaking noises that I didn't understand, but that Leo seemed to get, "She's a new demigod."

The dragon seemed to accept that and stood up, bending down so that Leo and I could climb on. I only hesitated for a moment before accepting Leo's outstretched hand and he pulled me onto the large beast.

"Take us to Camp Half-Blood." he told the dragon, and with a flourish of his huge wings, we were sailing through the sky.


End file.
